Polina S. is so pretty with the long legs, but I think that they're going to give her trouble with the jumps. I keep thinking that she should have gone into ballet instead. She has the perfect body for that. I'm not sure if she'll be able to keep up the jumps as she fills out. She looks quite tall already.

I worry about that too. She is around 5'3" now so she could potentially end up tall like Carolina Kostner or even if she only grows an inch or two taller and just is long legged, her body is bound to change a lot, even if she still stays skinny. I agree that she would likely be great at ballet with her long limbs! I also worry about Anna getting too tall, she's around 5'4" now and hasn't even turned 14 yet! She could potentially be 5'8" or taller!

I think 5'3'' isn't that tall (she looked taller to me), but her extreme thinness suggests that she probably hasn't gone through puberty yet. So she may grow in height and gain weight in the next few years. Anna isn't quite as skinny, so she may be finished with puberty and growth (both vertical and horizontal). That would be good new for her jumps. I was more like Anna - I was almost 5 ft 4 and 105 pounds when I was 14; I'm now 21 and I've only grown half an inch and gained 5 or so pounds. But you never really know. It must be really stressful for these girls and their parents, since body type has such a huge impact on jumping ability, but you can't really control how your body develops.

I think 5'3'' isn't that tall (she looked taller to me), but her extreme thinness suggests that she probably hasn't gone through puberty yet. So she may grow in height and gain weight in the next few years. Anna isn't quite as skinny, so she may be finished with puberty and growth (both vertical and horizontal). That would be good new for her jumps. I was more like Anna - I was almost 5 ft 4 and 105 pounds when I was 14; I'm now 21 and I've only grown half an inch and gained 5 or so pounds. But you never really know. It must be really stressful for these girls and their parents, since body type has such a huge impact on jumping ability, but you can't really control how your body develops.

Yeah I know, it must be rough. I mean Caroline, Mirai, and Kimmie were all miniature until they were like 15 and then all of a sudden they became normal sized and it clearly hurt their jumps. Mirai luckily has been able to work through it but it was a long and hard process and even now her jumps are still subject to under-rotation. Polina definitely still looks like a little kid and will either gain substantial height and weight or at least weight, especially where she is not asian. I feel like Yuna grew into her adult body without gaining much height and weight but asians are generally smaller and slimmer than europeans. Anna I don't know about, she looks more grown up than Polina and has a bit of a body shape but is still very thin, she might not grow much at all or she could just end up being a taller, stronger person like Carolina which could hurt her jumps. I guess we will see in the coming years what happens to these girls and how it affects their skating.

It's not the best comp to see up and coming skaters, but one to see how they are doing.

for up and coming skaters, NOVICE is the comp to watch.

I don't recognize any of the ladies participants as having competed in senior international events this season. I know sometimes there are a lot of people like that, but this year, in the ladies event at least, it seems like the skaters are actually junior skaters and not 18 year old senior skaters who just get sent to junior worlds because they didn't make the senior world team or want another competition and are technically young enough to go.

I just watched Agnes Zawadski's skates from nationals - her jumps are HUGE! She's also super tall http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/archi...s/junlad10.htm
she like dwarfs everyone else she must be like 5'7" or something, I'm surprised her jumps are that secure. She could maybe spoil for a medal.

hmmm I like Kanako for Gold but the rest.....
SO I am a HUGE Kiri fan and despite the growth spurt, the last minute entry, and the fact she has been working on a new program and next year, I think she will skate-well.
I'm an ever HUGER(is that a word?) Kate Charbonneau fan, and if she skates clean, which she can, she will definitely be top 6. She is a great package.
Gao will do well. Agnes has no reputation and I am afraid her lack of speed will hold her back.
I have only seen Anna for the Russians, and wasn't all that impressed. As said before, they are little girls -I know this is Junior, but what a difference a couple of months can make!
I will be there to see it all. Leaving tomorrow night!

I don't recognize any of the ladies participants as having competed in senior international events this season. I know sometimes there are a lot of people like that, but this year, in the ladies event at least, it seems like the skaters are actually junior skaters and not 18 year old senior skaters who just get sent to junior worlds because they didn't make the senior world team or want another competition and are technically young enough to go.

Joshi Helgesson(SWE) competed in GP seniors this season. She is 16, so why not go to junior worlds(4th last year) to get more expierence?

My bets are on Gao, Hanyu, Cong/Sui, and A Russian Dance Team for gold.
I love the Shibutani's OD, but their other programs don't shine. They do ethereal so well I have no idea where that FD came from. With Cinema Paradiso they looked like prodigies...here their freedance is another junior freedance. And they have got to up their difficulty level on lifts and make the twizzles look more smooth, fast and effortless-- I'm glad Maia's improved and hasn't had any stumbles this year but it won't be enough to beat the Russians.

hmmm I like Kanako for Gold but the rest.....
SO I am a HUGE Kiri fan and despite the growth spurt, the last minute entry, and the fact she has been working on a new program and next year, I think she will skate-well.
I'm an ever HUGER(is that a word?) Kate Charbonneau fan, and if she skates clean, which she can, she will definitely be top 6. She is a great package.
Gao will do well. Agnes has no reputation and I am afraid her lack of speed will hold her back.
I have only seen Anna for the Russians, and wasn't all that impressed. As said before, they are little girls -I know this is Junior, but what a difference a couple of months can make!
I will be there to see it all. Leaving tomorrow night!

Kiri and Kate need more technical difficulty if they want to be competitive on the senior level, Kate was only 7th at Canadian Nationals and it was a pretty weak field apart from Joannie, and as for Kiri her toe and sal are her only consistent triples, more often than not she falls on or two foots the flip and lutz, does not attempt a loop.

Also, pretty much ALL the girls at this competition are little girls, not just the Russians. With the exception of Zawadski they are for the most part teeny, Anna is one of the youngest competitors at the event and she is taller and actually looks older than a lot of the other girls like Kanako, Gao, Shelepen, Baga who are all older. That is why it is hard to tell if most of these girls will stay good in the future because they for the most part are still just little kids.

The podium results of the Men will show that the 3 who are lucky also skate Seniors. JMO.

The US only sent those who are competing at seniors. The third alternate, Jason Brown, won the Junior Men's with a score that would have placed him in 6th or 7th place at the senior level...with less time to skate. He should have been given the chance to go to Junior Worlds.

Yikes, the US might walk away from these championships without any medals! When was the last time that happened?

Gao might be able to pull off a bronze if her LP is as good as it normally is, she seems to be on a bit of a bronze medal streak this season. We'll see though, I kinda hope the top 3 ladies stay the top 3 because I really like all of them, so expressive !